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A fire that killed seven people in an expanded family in Ho Chi Minh City last month originated from a motorbike parked inside the house, the city's fire chief said Friday.

The fire from the bike spread to hairstyling tools and chemicals stored in the house at 416 Nguyen Trai St, Dist. 5, which doubled as a shop, then to the neon sign before bursting into flames, said Colonel Le Tan Buu, Director of the HCMC Firefighting Police Department.

However, this preliminary conclusion will need to be confirmed by further probe by police investigators, Col. Buu said at a press conference.

Charred furniture gathered in front of the house on Ho Chi Minh City's Nguyen Trai Street in a fire that killed seven people on September 16. Photo: Thanh Van.

The fierce blaze at 3 a.m. September 16 killed all seven people in the house, including two brothers, their wives and their three children, the youngest of whom was 18 years old.

The fire department recorded 221 fires in the city so far this year, which killed 15 people, injured 10 others and caused damages worth about VND44 billion (US$2 million), Col. Buu said.

Many motorbike fires have been reported nationwide since 2011 and a majority of which remain unexplained. Some were parking while others were running when they caught fire.